Posted on 02/23/2010 10:02:00 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Republican National Chairman Michael Steele is spending twice as much as his recent predecessors on private planes and paying more for limousines, catering and flowers – expenses that are infuriating the party's major donors who say Republicans need every penny they can get for the fight to win back Congress.
Most recently, donors grumbled when Steele hired renowned chef Wolfgang Puck's local crew to cater the RNC's Christmas party inside the trendy Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, and then moved its annual winter meeting from Washington to Hawaii.
For some major GOP donors, both decisions were symbolic of the kind of wasteful spending habits they claim has become endemic to his tenure at the RNC. When Ken Mehlman served as the committee chairman during the critical 2006 midterm elections, the holiday party was held in a headquarters conference room and Chic-fil-A was the caterer.
A POLITICO analysis of expenses found that compared with 2005, the last comparable year preceding a midterm election, the committee’s payments for charter flights doubled; the number of sedan contractors tripled, and meal expenses jumped from $306,000 to $599,000.
“Michael Steele is an imperial chairman,” said one longtime Republican fundraiser. “He flies in private aircraft. He drives in private cars. He has private consultants that are paid ridiculous retainers. He fancies himself a presidential candidate and wants all of the trappings and gets them by using other people’s money.”
Louis M. Pope, who chairs the RNC’s Budget Committee, defends Steele’s expenses, arguing that a bump in costs is unavoidable for a party that lacks control of any of the levers of government. “Michael Steele does travel more, but he’s in far more demand. He’s a huge part of the fundraising apparatus,” said Pope. “Nobody is living it up at the RNC. There are a number of upscale events, but those are all profitable.”
But disclosure reports document the exodus of prominent donors who have decided to shift their giving to other party committees. In 2005, the RNC raised $46 million from donors who gave more than $250 and $55 million from small donors. In 2009, Steele’s RNC brought in just $24 million — nearly half as much — from big donors and $58 million from small donors.
When Steele took over the chairmanship last winter, he inherited a $23 million surplus. Since then, the former Maryland lieutenant governor has raised $10 million less than the party collected in 2005 and has spent $10 million more. By the end of 2009, the committee’s surplus had shrunk to $8.4 million, according to campaign finance reports.
Just last week, RNC officials touted a January fundraising haul of more than $10 million. But after hosting the sun-filled winter meeting in Hawaii, paying for the holiday party and taking care of other bills, the committee spent almost all of it. Consequently, the RNC added only $1 million to the committee’s $8.4 million in cash, the reports show.
Pope acknowledged the falloff but said some of it was caused by frustration and exhaustion after the 2008 election and that things are turning around. “Major donor events were up in the latter part of the year, once the party learned to raise money better without a president,” and Obama’s agenda rallied the base, he said.
as long as he's not catering booze and girls and sends flowers, this is not yur GrandPaPPy's GoP after all.
Now look at them yo-yo’s, that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on that MTV
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, them guys ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
Steele has to go.
I’ve been throwing all my RNC mail in the trash. I bet I’ve received at least 3-4 letters asking for money or renewal of membership in last 3-4 weeks. Not another dime until they learn to fight the Dems as they should be fought and grow a pair.
And NOW.
I think he is in cahoots with the idiot in the white hut.
Just keepin it real. Know whut I’m sayin?
That’s why I no longer give to The Party but to conservative canidates!
I’ve never been a follower of the RNC inner workings.
Do they have a board or something that has power to stop this spending spree?
One of many reasons the Repubs are not getting my $$ until they ditch Steel, RINOs (ESPECIALLY MCKENNEDY) , and study up on the meaning of the word “conservatism”.
The Republican Party’s most loyal donors will not contribute until this bozo gets the boot....I hope he gets fired soon. He’s a big fat piggy embarrassment
I don’t know, but he needs to put out to pasture and let someone else come in and straighten the whole mess out.
A jive brotha has got to live, don’t he?
My money will go directly to conservative candidates.
Word.
The RNC still has donors??
Fo’shizzle
Response: Yep.
Da money go bad now ifens ya don’t spend it ya see.
Me too.
But I send back an empty solicitation form with a comment about when they show evidence of growing a pair, I will resume contributions.
When I volunteered there to help elect Dubya, they served canned baked beans and potato chips for dinner. That was ok with me, but compare and contrast to Steele acting like Obama....
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